Xinhua, Seoul :
South Korea posted a record current account surplus in 2014 as low oil prices and weak domestic demand reduced imports amid lackluster export growth, central bank data showed Monday.
Current account surplus was 89.42 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, up 10.2 percent from the previous record high of 81.15 billion dollars in 2013, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The country’s current account surplus kept a record-breaking trend for three straight years, and the 2014 figure was roughly in line with the BOK’s forecast of 90 billion dollars.
Imports reduced 1.3 percent from a year earlier to 528.66 billion dollars in 2014, marking the third straight year of fall on the back of cheaper oil and weak demand at home.
Exports, which account for about half of the economy, inched up 0.5 percent to 621.54 billion dollars, but trade surplus increased from 82.78 billion dollars in 2013 to 92.88 billion dollars in 2014 on the import decline.
After peaking at 27.4 percent in 2010, the export growth kept falling to 2.8 percent in 2012 and 2.4 percent in 2013 each. The 2014 growth was the lowest in five years.
Falling imports and sluggish exports refueled worries about a so-called “recession-type” surplus though volume of both exports and imports increased 4.4 percent and 4.7 percent each last year.
The BOK set its 2015 outlook for current account surplus at 94 billion dollars, higher than the record 2014 figure. It would cause the South Korean currency’s rise to the U.S. dollar, leading to weaker price competitiveness of local exporters.
Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said last month that the authorities will manage the scope of surplus this year at a lower level than last year as excessive surplus puts pressures on the local currency to appreciate to the dollar.
In December alone, the current account surplus was 7.22 billion dollars. The figure was down 9.5 percent from the prior month but maintained the surplus trend for 34 months in a row.
South Korea posted a record current account surplus in 2014 as low oil prices and weak domestic demand reduced imports amid lackluster export growth, central bank data showed Monday.
Current account surplus was 89.42 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, up 10.2 percent from the previous record high of 81.15 billion dollars in 2013, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The country’s current account surplus kept a record-breaking trend for three straight years, and the 2014 figure was roughly in line with the BOK’s forecast of 90 billion dollars.
Imports reduced 1.3 percent from a year earlier to 528.66 billion dollars in 2014, marking the third straight year of fall on the back of cheaper oil and weak demand at home.
Exports, which account for about half of the economy, inched up 0.5 percent to 621.54 billion dollars, but trade surplus increased from 82.78 billion dollars in 2013 to 92.88 billion dollars in 2014 on the import decline.
After peaking at 27.4 percent in 2010, the export growth kept falling to 2.8 percent in 2012 and 2.4 percent in 2013 each. The 2014 growth was the lowest in five years.
Falling imports and sluggish exports refueled worries about a so-called “recession-type” surplus though volume of both exports and imports increased 4.4 percent and 4.7 percent each last year.
The BOK set its 2015 outlook for current account surplus at 94 billion dollars, higher than the record 2014 figure. It would cause the South Korean currency’s rise to the U.S. dollar, leading to weaker price competitiveness of local exporters.
Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said last month that the authorities will manage the scope of surplus this year at a lower level than last year as excessive surplus puts pressures on the local currency to appreciate to the dollar.
In December alone, the current account surplus was 7.22 billion dollars. The figure was down 9.5 percent from the prior month but maintained the surplus trend for 34 months in a row.
